Amplify Education, the Core Knowledge Foundation’s commercial publishing partner for the Core Knowledge Language Arts (CKLA) program, has posted a video featuring CKLA in action at Alvina Elementary School in Caruthers, California. You’ll hear many enthusiastic testimonials to the effectiveness of CKLA, including:
Administrator: “The inclusion of the knowledge piece is so important…. Kids are reading about something and they’re responding, and the responses that they’re writing are head and shoulders above where they were before.”
Teacher 1: “My favorite part is the knowledge piece, because of the storytelling, because of the interest. I like that the kids are learning things that I wouldn’t have thought to teach to a first grader.”
Teacher 2: “Lots of times the bell will ring and they want to continue—‘Just let us finish, just let us finish, give us five more minutes!’ When you have an English Language Arts curriculum that competes with recess, that’s a huge deal.”
Student: “It’s basically science, and experiments, and history all in one bundle. It’s really cool.”
After viewing the video, check out the positive review of CKLA for grades 3-5 issued by the independent nonprofit EdReports.org. CKLA scored high on all criteria, including text quality, building knowledge, and usability.
That, too, is really cool!